Category: Social Updates

We are done with 17/18!

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So you think swimming is done and dusted for the academic year in March? NAH. Our tireless committee is still working *through the exams* to bring you activities!

1. Swimathon 2018

Team UCL Swimming took on the olympic stadium once again one month after our glorious victory against Kings. A tradition of our club, we’ve fundraised for this event and took up the challenge of swimming DURING the exam period. Even though our incoming president, Louis, signed us up for the slow lanes, our timings are anything but slow!

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everyone’s a medal winner except Louis (even though he swam the fastest)

shoutout to everyone for turning up this year and we look forward to Swimathon 2019!

2. Swimming Dinner!

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Rob is not impressed. Watch out for his socials next year.

The annual swimming dinner has descended upon us, kindly organised by our dearest Social Secs, Ellen and Georgie! Lovely pub, lovely food, lovely price ££!

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For the uninitiated, this annual summer rendezvous is a chance for us to meet up with each other with more than just a swimming trunk/costume on. It is during the dinner that we dish out awards for what we do when we are almost naked. Yes, swim.

so drumrolls…

2017/18 Award Winners!

Female Competitor of the Year – Phyllida Britton (Goggy)
Male Competitor of the Year – Daniel Schindler
Most Improved Swimmer – Ming Hu
Most Dedicated Club Member – Kai Low
Swimmer of the Year – Becca Lin

Congrats to all winners!

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Louis offering his heartiest congratulations whilst Gabi looks on endearingly

THANK YOU ALL for making 17/18 the best year and we look forward to seeing you at tour!

 

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Alumni Gala – it’s been a good half-decade

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they’ve returned (and they are still pretty fast in the water!)

What a night! UCLSC is half a decade old this year but our swimmers are always looking young (maybe it’s the chlorine).

To celebrate, we’ve brought everyone out to Hackney for a gala:

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it’s not exactly Hackney but we’ve got the entire pool (and 2 very bored lifeguards).

Here are some pictures of how the night went swimmmingly well!

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Our captain *trying* to look optimistic as our founders reunite.

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have they been training????????? they are fast!

And post-gala, we fall back on tradition for a nice BYOB curry. Now, that’s a lot of swimmers in one tiny curry house.

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how many swimmers can you fit in a curry house? 

MAJOR CREDITS to Ellen for organising this event and making sure we all get our curry. Insane feat.

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we just needed more reasons to eat cake 

And HUGE THANKS to Gabi for getting the club our first NON-WEARABLE MERCH – A WATER BOTTLE! We are selling them at £3 in 2 colours and they are stylish af. Ideal for pres if you need it! What are you waiting for???

Merry Christmas!

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2017 has been crazy, but we are nearing the end of it!

Lots have been going on and here’s a breakdown of what went on in December:

1. Christmas Dinner 

everyone in this photo is not young

With 53 of you joining us at the Shakespeare’s Head on Carnaby Street, this is the biggest turn out ever! Thank you Ellen and Georgi, our amazing Social Secs, for organizing such a blast! And if you haven’t heard about the latest ship of the club… cough *janiel* cough

2. Christmas Gala

We don’t have a picture for this but saaaaaaaay whaaaaaaaat. We’ve managed to raised £70 for Aspire, a national charity that provides practical help to people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury helping them move from injury to independence.

As our Engagement and Community Officer, Louis have organised this charity gala, throwing in fun races involving questionable Santa hats and socks to end our last swim session of the year on a high note. Congratulations to Team 4 for winning a box of Celebrations (that everyone stole from anyway lol)!

If anyone love to find out more about UCL Swimming’s other volunteering projects (i.e. Starfish Volunteering), do not hesitate to reach out to Louis!

Also, goodbye to our Canadian star, Will Brothers! We hope to see you again at UCL next year!

3. Naked Calendar

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We stripped … like we always do in the changing room lol

UCLSC will probably be on the naughty list this Christmas for posing *naked* but this is all for a good cause!

In support of mental health charity MIND, UCL Swimming has joined forces with other sports team in UCL to go bare for a 2018 calendar shoot! Head down to CSC reception or here to get your family and friends the best christmas gift! (ps im buying this for my mom)

4. Kit!

Our swimming caps are here! With the constant hard work of our Marketing Officer, Kai, Christmas came early with our newly designed swim caps! Do wear it proud when you head home and swim at your local gyms! T-shirts to come next year, and keep a look out for our Under Armour kit rolling out soon. Note: PAY UP TO GET THEM ASAP!

Mega thanks to our Alumni and Sponsorship officer, Gabi, for securing us a huuuuuuuuuuuge sponsorship from George Farha! You will see our sponsor logos on your kit as a form of gratitude. Also, with this sponsorship, we’ve managed to get our competitive team new personalized bullet caps! Wrap up! 

We hope all of you enjoyed your time with us here in UCL Swimming. Merry Christmas and have a great new year!

Happy 5th Birthday to UCL Swimming!

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can you believe how amazing we’ve gotten in JUST 5 YEARS?

We TURNED 5!

As with tradition, UCLSC celebrated our birthday with our famous Curryoke [read: curry-O.K.]. Can you imagine how far we’ve gotten and accomplished in these 5 years? A club award? Check. A sportsperson of the year? Check. A Sportsnite at Loop bar tab…? We’re getting there.

Somebody once told me:

 “If you can row, you can’t sing. If you can swim, you’re Whitney Houston.” – Confucius*

What a way to prove Confucius right, we smashed the stage with our crystal-clear rendition of All Star, Uptown Girl, and Let it Go! Forget Whitney Houston, everyone’s an Idina Menzel!

If you still want to put your vocal talents to good use, come join us at London League Round 1 next Saturday and cheer #teamUCL as we compete against Imperial, Kings, Queen Mary, etc! Watch us as we keep our title as London champs!

Cambridge Gala 28/10/17

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After a questionable (and slightly concerning) coach journey we made it to Cambridge. As we already know, we are the most superior London team (in and out the pool), and our first competition of the year provided concrete evidence to this claim.

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doing a great job as captains!

Exceptional swims all round from the fresh and the old:

Female stand out performance has to go to Becca Lin for smashing the 100IM and then proceeding to ‘take one for the team’ and do the 100Breast in style.

Male stand out goes to our Canadian machine… Will, for his 100IM victory, whose great performance was arguably down to the use of skins (or possibly the fact he swam at the commonwealths?).

Despite intense pressure from the paparazzi to “werk it” and “quickly pose for a relay pic” as we were about to get on the blocks, we claimed SECOND PLACE overall!!! Our best ever finish!!!! Exciting times lads… Bring on BUCS!

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WE CAME IN SECOND! (Imperial was 4th, just saying)

For those who came down to support, you’re not forgotten:

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we are the best cheerleaders, possibly because we’re the only team of supporters

 

Not forgetting our wonderful ALPHABET SOCIALS!

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look at that amount of chinese food we ate

We went as Ali G, Bob the Builder, Electricians, Gladiator, Harry Potter, Joker, Kit Kat, Maid, Oreos… and you get it, we form the alphabet picture book you will give to a baby. Great job everyone for dressing up!

If you want to join us for our next event, CHECK US OUT HERE.

Shark Run

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Once a year, every year, we think of the fiercest creature that lurks in the waters.

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lol obviously they didn’t race side by side

53 OF YOU TURNED UP – THIS IS THE LARGEST SHARK RUN EVER (or the last I remember, if I wasn’t already drunk)

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stopping traffic since 5 years ago

Thank you to all who turned up and turned Bloomsbury upside down. From downing a pitcher of snakebite (ew) to eating tuna (more eww) and vodka watergun (bless your eyes and throat), this probably is the craziest pub crawl you will ever attend.

Good job if you made it to Roxy! We will see you next year!

Shark Run & Cambridge!

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Give-it-a-go fortnight is officially over!

Thank you everyone who signed up and turned up for our training sessions. We hope you like it and want more! If that’s the case, from this week on, we need you to have membership. Head over to the Students’ Union webpage (link here) to get them now!

And if you’ve joined us in last week’s Glitter Social, you will know how lit it is

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we occupied the entire top deck of bus 73. blur photo soz.

If fomo has hit you, don’t worry because our two MAJOR SOCIALS are coming up and here are the details!

  1. Shark Run (Event link HERE )
    What’s better than one shark running after *drunk* you? TWO SHARKS! Our infamous annual pub crawl is here and it’s really the one event that you must not miss. I’d skip my 9am for this (kidding, guys go for both socials and lectures).
  2. Cambridge Gala (Event link HERE )
    Competitive swimmers will compete and non-competing people will drink and show solidarity by the poolside. the more shots down the more chances we stand to win this gala! And after that we will have the BEST out-of-town social ever, you might even forget to catch the coach back with us (it happened before, you don’t want us to leave you, really).

More updates to come! If you haven’t already followed us on our Facebook page and group and Instagram (@ucl.swimstagram), go right now!